Heretofore, various efforts have been made to devise components, integral to a bicycle's structure, which serve to support the vehicle in a substantially upright position during periods of disuse. These past bicycle support systems fall into two main categories. The first category describes the popular style of stand that attaches to a bicycle's frame. Frame mounted stands generally consist of a pivoting prop-member that can be positioned by the operator to engage the ground, thereby forming a triangular support structure for the bicycle.
The prior art also describes a second, less prevalent category of bicycle stand in which the stand attaches to the rotateable portion or tread of either of the bicycle's pedals. In its correct position, this type of stand effectively extends the pedal's tread to contact the ground, thereby enabling the crank-arm and pedal to support the bicycle. To correctly position a pedal mounted stand, the bicycle's crank assembly is rotated such that the pedal is just slightly aft of its lowest point. Gravitational force will generally cause the pedal and its attached stand to rotate and hang from the pedal's bearing spindle such that the stand is close to the ground. Once the components are thus positioned, the bicycle's pedal, crank arm, chain wheel and power transmission assemblies all become integral parts of the stand. The user can then lean the bicycle onto the pedal-extension/crank-arm assembly and it will act as a bicycle stand by forming a rigid prop between the bicycle and the ground.
By temporarily incorporating the bicycle's existing power transmission components into the stand's support structure, a pedal-mounted stand is potentially more efficient than a frame mounted stand. The major problem with pedal-mounted stands is that the eccentric location of the stand's ground engagement point generates torque about the bearing spindle when the bicycle's weight is applied to the stand. If left unconstrained, the torque induced by the eccentric stand location would rotate the pedal, thereby destabilizing the stand and allowing the bicycle to fall. The prior art mitigates this inherent instability by providing a minimum of two ground contact points disposed at right angles to the axis of pedal rotation (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,726). Multiple ground contact points stabilize the pedal against rotation however they significantly increase the complexity and weight of the stand. Since the weight of any permanently mounted stand adds reciprocating mass to the bicycle's drive train; such stands are detrimental to pedaling efficiency and therefore inappropriate for use on lightweight, high performance bicycles. An alternative to using multiple ground contact points is to use the rider's foot pressure to stabilize the pedal against rotation (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,017). This approach also has drawbacks related to its weight and ease of use.
Another drawback of previous pedal-mounted stands is that the location of the ground engagement location is immediately below the pedal and therefore quite close to the bicycle's center of gravity. These stands can therefore provide only weak geometric support with respect to the substantial overall height of the bicycle's structure. This weak support geometry can cause the bicycle to fall over if the stand is engaged during strong winds or when the bicycle is parked on soft or sloping ground.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a pedal mounted bicycle stand that eliminates the aforementioned drawbacks inherent within the prior art.